Sufjan Stevens's Songs for Christmas is a collection of 5 EPs replete with Christmas classics, rarities, and originals. The EPs were recorded annually from 2001 to 2006, with a brief break in 2004 when Stevens was writing his critically acclaimed tribute to Illinois, Illinoise. The EPs were then given to family and friends as gifts.
The collection itself is a treasure trove of music (more than 2 hours), Christmas stickers, a poster with a comic on the back, an essay, a short story, and liner notes complete with chords. This box set is most definitely worth the $15.
Sufjan Stevens is an indie folk/pop singer who lives in Brooklyn, NY with his family. His previous album, Illinoise, was the second installment in what he says will be a 50 album series — one album per state.
The songs themselves are classic Sufjan and feature a wide variety of instruments, including banjo, guitar, oboe, piano, glockenspiels, sleigh bells, and a phone answering machine. His original compositions are sometimes funny, always quirky, and sometimes poignant. "That was the Worst Christmas Ever" is destined to become a Christmas classic.
"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is easily the best of the sacred songs on the album. Stevens's folksy, banjo-driven arrangement is both interesting and reverent. His Christianity is certainly apparent here. "Did I Make you Cry on Christmas? (Well, You Deserved It)" is one of my favorite songs on the album, and its whimsical, glockenspiel-filled melody is quite catchy.
Aside from Stevens originals and Christmas classics, Songs for Christmas is peppered with Christmas rarities like, "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" and "Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" which add quite a bit of depth to this wonderful collection. I bring them up again because of their contribution to the overall feel of Songs for Christmas.
These EPs were prepared as gifts for friends and family, and the choice to include less well-known songs, songs that may well be favorites of the original recipients of the albums, adds to the feeling that these albums are very personal, as if they are a Christmas present to the whole world.
These albums are also a sort of journal; they tell the story of a man who became disenchanted with all things Christmas, and then rediscovered Christmas and, "that creepy Christmas feeling." In the end, Songs for Christmas is guaranteed to tickle the ears and warm the hearts of music lovers everywhere.
Article comments